Of Loners and Songooses
by Kazuma Prime
Summary: Shadow is known as the class loner. Though he has friends and good standings in school, he wants someone that will ease his loneliness. The girl he wants isn't available, but through a series of events perhaps that will change. ShadMina mainly [See author profile for story's future]
1. Someone That You're With

KP here and I'd thought I'd give you a rundown of why this story is taking literal YEARS to write and publish. In February 2006, I first published Knothole High, which at the time it seemed like it would work out to be a good Sonic high-school fic. It was to be a Shadow/Sally coupling, which at the time I thought would be a good, rare one. But after more than a year of not updating, I've given it more thought and have come to the conclusion that it just doesn't work. It's not that I hate either Shadow or Sally, I just think that as a couple, I don't ever see it happening; in this life or any other life, dimension or celestial plane. As a result, the story was pulled off my mental list of fics to finish in September of 2009 (which of course didn't happen like I'd hoped, but I'm a very laid-back writer in terms of actually writing fanfiction), and put on the list of fics to rewrite or pull (delete and move on). Giving it more thought, I came to the conclusion that while Sally might not work, there was another character that would actually work and would be a nice pair-up for the dark hedgehog. For some, you can see it coming right off the bat, for others that aren't familiar with the comics, you'll see soon enough. Anyway, enough chatter people. On to the story.

Disclaimer: I own nothing in this story, save for the plot which I came up with in my own, lazy mind.

Autumn. For Mobius, it was time between summer and winter, transtioning flora into their many different colors before they went into their cold, long slumber. For many of the inhabitants, it was when the sport of football was played by both professional and non-professional. (A/N: Please note that this Mobius is set in a modern-day plane, while still holding as close as possible to the characters and places as possible.) But for the general young population, it was the time of year when school was back in session, Halloween was down the way followed by other looked-to holidays, and most denizens of schools prepared themselves for homecoming. For Knothole High, this weekend was that time.

The shrill whistle of the referee could be heard over the crowd of onlookers at the homecoming game. The Knothole Titans were up against an opposing school, and were, to put it bluntly, kicking the crap out of them. It was halftime, and they were up 24 to 6. Needless to say, they were doing well.

Shadow was standing off to one side of the track field that ran around the football field. He sighed, his hands in his leather jacket, the cool night air brushing against his cheeks. The sky was cloudy, yet there would be no rain for at least or another day. A lot of his class and friends were there, both on and off the field. He watched as both teams left the field to take their break in the locker rooms. The dark hedgehog nodded as numbers 3, 66, 83, 85, 11, 56, and finally 35 jogged past. Actually, scratch that. Quite a few of his buds were on the field.

"So, Shadow. We finally see you out here for a football game," a familiar voice spoke from behind him. Turning, he was greeted by more familiar faces. Mina Mongoose and her boyfriend, Ash, Miles Prower, Cream Rabbit, Charmy Bee, and another face he wasn't quite used to just yet.

"Uh..." he said uncertaintly, looking at the freshmen girl.

"Her name's Cosmo Seedrian, remember? She was at the party just a few weeks ago?" Rouge Bat spoke as she walked up to the group.

"Oh, right," Shadow replied, nodding to her.

"Talented speaker," the albino bat spoke with a smirk. A short "hmph" was what she got in reply.

"In case you're wondering what Shadow's been up to, he's been on Xbox Live the last week, charging through the new game that came out," Tails broke in.

"Oh really? What game?" Mina asked.

"Halo: Reach," he replied with a small smirk, thinking of how he practically dominated.

"Wait a minute, that came out? When did that happen?" Ash asked in general surprise.

"Jeez Ash, where have you been? It came out just several weeks ago. Aside from me and Shadow, most of the guys in the school and even some girls have been doing nothing but Reach when we aren't eating, sleeping, doing our schoolwork or sports or whatever else we might do," Tails said in response.

"Well excuse me. Normally I'd say I have a life, but seeing as most everyone's doing that…I got nothing," Ash said while shrugging his shoulders.

"Don't sweat it Ash. My parents wouldn't let me get it," Charmy said to the mongoose.

"Really? So you haven't played it yet either?"

"Nah, I go over to Tails and play it with him. Never said I hadn't played it!" Charmy said to the disgruntled Ash. The girls laughed a bit at the exchange.

"I'm only partway done with the achievements. Between that and the recent Transformers game, I'm pretty much swamped," Shadow said while taking out his wallet and pulling out two 1 dollar bills.

"Seriously? That's amazing!" Charmy chirped enthusiastically. Tails spoke up. "Not really, the game's not too hard once you get into it. Sonic and the guys are the same way."

"Yeah yeah yeah, real fascinating but can we move onto something more interesting?" Rouge interrupted. Shadow narrowed his eyes slightly at the bat in annoyance, but shrugged. "So then, who do you think will be homecoming queen this year?"

"Don't know. I was putting my bets on either Blaze, but she decided not to run this year," Rouge said.

"What about you Rouge?" Mina inquired. The teen scoffed at her. "You have GOT to be kidding me. I wouldn't be caught dead doing something like that. Get a bad enough rep for my looks as it is, that would just multiply my problems tenfold."

"Then who's left?" Tails asked.

Their answer came when Bunnie Rabbot's name was called by the announcer. Her escort, and boyfriend of a year Antoine D'Coolette, hugged her once she was crowned.

"I didn't even know Bunnie was running," Mina said. Ash simply shrugged as the teams could be heard jogging towards the field. His gaze swiftly turned and kept an eye out for number 35, his fist clenching and unclenching as the team's quarterback took the field once again to joyous cheers. The boy's girlfriend looked at him.

"Everything okay?" Mina asked. Shaking his head lightly, he looked down at her and smiled a bit. "Yeah, yeah I'm fine. I'm fine..."

The loner hedgehog watched this display, turning his gaze back to the game as it restarted with the same vigor as it had started with.

2 hours later...

Shadow sighed as he leaned against the doorframe in his downstairs. The house he lived in was large, to say the least. It had been left by a family that up and moved with no explanation. An in-ground pool in the backyard, 4 large bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a dining room, a large living room, family room, large downstairs game room, 2 car garage, a huge front yard, all on land that was large enough to build two houses on. The hedgehog had been more than lucky, and it wasn't just from the large house he had been left by a VERY generous family that he had lived with most of his life. His now dead parents left him a very nice fortune that would be his, on the condition he either turned 21, or he started college.

Glancing up from his thoughts, he looked across the room at the ones who had joined him to celebrate the football team's homecoming victory. Only the couples were there with him, the singles of his group gone off to do other things, and the freshmen friends' gone home for the evening; Sonic was busy playing on Shad's old SNES with Scourge while Fiona and Amy watched, Mina and Ash were busy talking to Sally Acorn, and Knuckles and Julie-Su were watching TV near the former three. They were watching some ghost show on tv, a few were creeped out, the others were watching in somewhat boredom, but they were all entertained for the most part.

Seeing his friends with someone they liked really struck the loner, his gaze drifting from one couple to the next. He sighed as he turned and headed up the stairs, deciding to just them be. However, one noticed he was slinking off upstairs...

The moon shone brightly into the living room as Shadow sat in one of the chairs in front of the bay window, one leg resting sideways atop the other. "Hm..."

"Thinking to yourself again?" Sonic inquired as he entered the room.

Shadow scoffed at him. "Well I was."

"Sorry man. Mind telling me what's got you down?"

At first Shadow didn't respond, Sonic sitting down in the opposing chair. "Shad, we've been friends for a long time. You can tell me what's got you down."

"I'm...just not sure. When this year started, I was sure that I could handle the fact that all of you were together with someone." Sonic looked at him oddly, which earned him a sad smirk from the black hedgehog.

"I mean, I've been living here in this house alone for nearly 4 years now, and up until now I didn't mind it. I actually thrived on being alone. But...ever since we started junior year, and I saw more and more of you begin dating on a serious note-"

"It's getting to you isn't it?" Shadow looked at him curiously.

"You're starting to dislike being alone?" The blue jock asked.

"For the first time in my life, yes. And I don't know how I'll be able to handle tomorrow night, knowing you guys will be at that dance, enjoying your time."

"Wait a minute Shadow, I thought you said you were going?"

"Yes, to help out with the dance Sonic. Last week, I knew there was simply no way I'd be able to find a date. Had I been this smart a year ago, I would have asked Amy while you were still with that Acorn girl." Sonic narrowed his eyes and grinned at him.

"Yeah don't remind me. I realize now that her and I just weren't going to work out. Especially since her dad..." Sonic glanced down as he wasn't quite able to finish the sentence. "Anyway, you get the point."

"As I was saying...the fact is I don't want to spend tomorrow night here alone, so I might as well at least be near people I can converse with. At least take my mind off being alone for once."

Sonic simply stared at him. For as long as he remembered, Shadow was the lone, quiet member of the class. He could very easily been seen as an outcast, as if he had done something horrible and wished to remain in isolation his whole life to make amends. And yet here he was, 4 months after the end of their sophomore year, almost a completely different hedgehog.

"Something's happened to you, hasn't it Shadow?" He nodded in response.

"Alright then, spill it." The dark one looked at him oddly. "Huh?"

"Who's the lucky girl?" Sonic grinned at him evilly.

"I never said-"

"Rouge?" Shadow grit his teeth. "Don't bet on it, I really can't stand her sometimes."

"Well it better not be Amy. I already promised her mid-summer I'd take her. As a friend mind you," Sonic mock threatened.

"No, wait what?."

"Long story short, Sally already was asked by Monkey-boy on the same camping weekend in early August so I decided going with Amy was better than not at all," Sonic said with a shrug while saying Ken Khan's pet peeve nickname in slight disgust.

"Right…forgot you two aren't…" Shadow said sympathetically.

"It is what it is, man."

"I hate that saying, blue boy," Shadow said, his eyes narrowing.

"Well, who else is there-...wait...is it my sister?" Sonic stood up while staring at his long-time friend.

"What? You've got to be kidding me, you know I don't cross that kind of line faker."

Sonic and Shadow both knew that going out with your best friend's sister carried too many risks. While Sonia was a looker, Shadow was neither interested in her, nor wanted to put his friendship at risk with Sonic. He already felt uneasy enough as it was, and he wanted his final year with everyone to go as smoothly as possible.

"You know full well she's the closest thing I have to an actual sister."

Sonic sat back down, rubbing the back of his head. "Yeah, guess you're right. Well, I can't really think of anyone else."

That's when the star football player started putting his mind to work, trying to figure out who might have changed him.

_Had to have been just recently...I doubt Shadow would have changed overnight, had to have been within the last month at least. Maybe even longer than that…_

For some odd reason, a certain mongoose crossed his mind. Mina and Sonic had gone out in middle school for less than a year. After 7th grade ended, she moved away to Downunda and he wouldn't find out for several more months why she stopped talking to him. The Christmas of their Freshmen year saw her and her mother return for a visit, having a less shy personality about her by then.

She and her mother finally returned to Knothole for good at the beginning of the year, having come to terms with what had happened. A new boyfriend, a new talent for singing, and a star member of the cross-country team.

It was then something just pointed him in the direction that nobody expected him to think, nor anyone thought that Shadow might go.

"Wait a minute... is it, Mina?" Sonic asked finally. Silence met him as he stared at Shadow. Guessing this was it, he threw his hands up and let them slap back down onto his blue jeans.

"Are you seriously kidding me man? Of all the girls, and I mean nothing in the way of looks or talent because she's got them both, but Mina? Are you crazy or something?" Sonic said exasperatedly.

Shadow looked at him oddly. "What's wrong with that? It's not like I'm saying I'm joining the Marines or anything like that," Sonic stared at him in disbelief.

"What's wrong? Dude Shadow, she's WITH someone already! She's been here for only a a few months and you say you have some form of feelings for her! And to add to all that, she's with one of the most jealous, most possessive guys around! Look, Ash may not be on the football team but he's not exactly a pushover!" Sonic nearly shouted at him.

"Well, I'm no pushover either. Only reason why I'm not on the football team this year is because I had too much on my mind this year. Otherwise I would have been quarterback like last year," Shadow stated simply. The sound of the front door opening and closing caught his attention, but he paid no heed to it.

"Look, all I'm saying is that if Ash finds out he's not going to take it lying down. And Mina...hell I don't even know. What she sees in the guy is something that is beyond understanding, but what I do know is that for right now, let her go. Maybe she'll wise up one of these days and see him for the idiot he is and dump his sorry rear into the ground. For right now, just...don't do anything stupid," Sonic stated while setting his hand on Shadow's shoulder.

"You mean like what you would do?" Shadow was soon rubbing his upper arm from a mock-punch from his counterpart. "Point taken."

Sonic then proceeded toward the front door. "I'll talk to you later man. Going to head home and get some sleep."

"What about Amy?" Shadow inquired while getting up from the chair.

"Oh right, I better-"

"She already went outside," Mina spoke as she exited the bathroom. Her emerald gaze settled on Shadow, who turned away. As the lights upstairs were mostly turned off, she couldn't see the slight red on his face.

"Thanks Mina. Talk to you guys tomorrow," Sonic stated as he headed out the front door, giving one last look at Shadow before closing the door behind him.

"Man, things just keep getting better," Sonic said sarcastically. "Is that so?"

"Yeah...wait a minute, Amy?" he said, looking at her oddly. "What are you smirking at?"

"So Shadow actually likes someone, hm?" Amy said, her arms crossed while leaning against the wall to the garage just to the left of the porch.

"Oh boy..."

Back inside...

"Hey Shadow," Mina greeted him. "How's life?"

"Uh, it's going alright I suppose," he said, having managed to suppress his embarrassment for the time being. "How about you?"

"Oh you know, the usual. Competing in cross-country and homework, and spending time with Ash." Shadow fought the urge to show any contempt toward the mongoose, his fist clenching slightly. "I see, well that's cool."

"I suppose so," Mina said, sighing as she went into the living room.

Cocking an eyebrow at her, the dark loner followed her, taking a seat on the couch a few feet away from her. "You didn't sound to sure about something."

"Well...promise you won't say anything?" Mina spoke while fixing her skirt.

He nodded. "Sure. What's got you unsure?"

"It's Ash. I've been with him for awhile now. I met him about a year after I moved to Downunda, and we started going out back in our freshmen year. Everything was fine while we were there. But ever since we moved back to Knothole 2 months ago, he's been really...different," Mina said while looking at her, pushing some strands of her lavendar hair out of her face.

In the back of his mind, Shadow wanted so desperately to say something along the lines of "You don't say", "REALLY NOW?" or even "DUUURRR!" but he knew better than that. "Different? How so?"

"I mean, he's more defensive. He seems angrier at times. And I think its something to do with Sonic. I'm not all that sure right now, but it seems he's almost jealous or something. Call me crazy, but I think he almost hates him. I'm not am I? For thinking like this?"

Shadow looked at her, the way Mina was looking at him made him think the info over for a few seconds. Closing his eyes, he nodded before looking back at her. "No, you're not. In fact, judging by how he acts around Sonic, it almost seems like he believes Sonic is going to try and get back together with you."

Mina looked at him, her eyes widening as she sat back in her chair, totally aghast at this. "What? That's crazy! Me and Sonic are just friends, we don't like each other like that. Does he think I'd cheat on him?" she asked exasperatedly, making sure not to be too loud.

"Calm down Mina, I didn't say that. I'm just saying what it looks like, not what it actually is. Truth be told, I have no idea what he's thinking. Have you tried talking it over with him?" Shadow said, his hands folded.

The yellow mongoose shook her head. "I've tried, but I'm still not convinced. I just don't want him starting something tomorrow night at the dance. Oh that reminds me, you're going aren't you Shadow?"

Shadow smiled at her a bit. "Sorry, I'm only helping out beforehand, then I'm going to probably head home. I don't have a date or anything so I'm just going to relax at home or something."

Mina looked a little crestfallen, hoping that he would be going. "Oh.."

Shadow sighed as he scratched the back of his head a little. "But you might catch me there before I leave."

The teen smiled a little at this. "Alright. Well, I think I should be going. I'll go get Ash and then I guess I'll see you tomorrow night Shadow."

Shadow nodded as he got up and went to the window, watching her leave the room before turning to look out into the October night.

Though they all hoped the dance would be uneventful, that it would be as good as it possibly could, all too often it's found that things never go exactly as planned.

Next time:

Everyone gets ready and heads for the dance. And at first things seem to be going okay.

Knuckles: This homecoming's been pretty good.

Sonic: You can say that again.

But, as it goes, it all goes down the toilet.

Shadow: Hello? Wait, slow down, what did you say?

And before the night is done, someone will be put at risk.

And that's all for now, hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I'll see you next time.


	2. Let's Start a Riot

Kazuma Prime: Well, I'm pretty happy with the way the first chapter was rewritten, so I figured I'd keep the ball rolling. This one will have a little more action in it, and a few surprises that you may or may not see coming. Hope you enjoy. And R&R if you would, it always makes me feel better about this story when I get input.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot. Everything else is owned by the respectful owners.

Shadow's eyes shot open, staring up at his ceiling. He groaned as he sat up in his bed, rubbing his brow as he awoke. Glancing to the window, he noted that bright sunlight was filtering through the closed mini-blinds. Throwing the sheets off him, he got up and grabbed some clean clothes from his closet, choosing some black jeans, a red button up dress shirt, and stuck with his usual skate shoes. Glancing at the clock, it read 1:23 pm, giving him more than enough time to get ready and enjoy some free time before he had to head to the school to help prepare.

He shook his head, attempting to clear the thoughts of his nightmare out of his head. "Get ahold of yourself Shadow, it was just a dream. Doesn't mean it really will happen...I hope."

3 hours later...

Scourge, Tails, and Knuckles were over at Sonic's house. All three of them were currently playing Halo 1 on Sonic's Xbox 360. The score was Sonic: 50, Scourge 50, Knuckles 39, and Tails 25. They were on Blood Gulch with sniper rifles as the default weapon. Needless to say, Sonic and Scourge were having a heated competition, with Knuckles and Tails doing what they could for kills.

"Damnit..." Scourge grumbled as he missed Sonic with a full clip of ammo, his Spartan jumping and moving from side to side on the far side of the map.

"What's wrong Scourge? Can't handle a little movement?" Sonic stated while heading around the red base, taking out Knuckles on the way as his football buddy sighed in defeat.

"Just hold still!" he said a little louder as he looked all over his part of the screen for the hedgehog. Grinning, Sonic glanced over at Scourge for a second, which was long enough for Knuckles to come blazing out of nowhere, running the hedgehog down with a Warthog.

"DUDE! WEAK!" Sonic said in mock anger. Tails, Knuckles and Scourge all fell over laughing at Sonic's unfortunate fate of becoming roadkill.

Footsteps descending the stairs told them of at least one person coming down to the game room, no one bothering to look away from the screen.

"You guys do know the dance starts at 7, right?" Sonia stated as she joined them, Sonic's younger brother also joining them.

"Yeah, why do you think we're already dressed in our tuxes?" Sonic replied while taking down Knuckles with the butt of his rifle, before being sniped by Tails across the map.

"Damnit Tails!" Sonic growled, earning another laugh from the two-tailed fox.

"Yeah, but don't you guys have dinner with the girls?" Manic asked.

The four boys stopped what they were doing, and checked the time. The clock read ten till 5. "Crap, we better go," Knuckles said as he set his controller down and got up.

"Yeah, I don't want to upset Cream," Tails stated while getting up.

"Good game guys," Sonic stated while turning off the 360.

"Wait, aw come on guys! We've still got time," Scourge stated while watching them head up the stairs.

"You wanna piss off Fiona?" Sonic said while peering around the corner from the stairs.

Scourge shot up and started for the stairs. "Yeah, I think it's about dinner time, wouldn't you agree blue boy?"

"Yeah, verily," Knuckles said as they headed upstairs, allowing Sonia and Manik to start watching TV.

"Seriously sis, if you watch any of that Disney channel stuff, I'm going to hurt you…" was what the boys heard, all four shaking their heads as they headed towards the restaurant.

Knothole High Gym – 5:45 pm

Shadow was busy setting up equipment for the DJ, listening in general disgruntlement as the 20-something tiger tried again and again to hire him as his equipment handler. Checking things over, the tiger nodded to him.

"Nice job kid, maybe you'll wise up here after this shin-dig and join me on the road. I'll cut you into the profits, 40-60," he said with a light chuckle.

"Yeah, no thanks," Shadow said, inwardly laughing at the tiger's sheer stupidity. As he left, he glanced over his shoulder. Well, what he lacked in brains, he made up in decent brawn. He might even give him a run for his money.

The hedgehog made his way over to Uncle Chuck. Even though he was the principal, the class had gone through their first three years with him as the guidance counselor and cross-country coach. So things for the class of '11 didn't change drastically in terms of Chuck's name.

"Alright, that takes care of our brilliant DJ," the dark hedgehog said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Yes well, he was the best we could do since the one we asked for backed out last week. He'll do," Uncle Chuck said.

"Anything else you need?"

"Yes, why not see if anyone needs help in the kitchen?"

Nodding to the favored teacher, Shadow walked in where two freshmens' mothers had volunteered to help with refreshments.

"So Shadow, who might the lucky lady be that's going with you tonight?" one of them asked.

"Yes, it's getting pretty late. Shouldn't you be getting ready?" the other asked.

"Sorry, but was unsuccessful this time. So instead, I thought I'd help make my friends' last homecoming one to remember," Shadow said lightheartedly.

"Oh what a shame. I'm sure my daughter would have said yes."

"Who's your daughter?" Shadow said, leaning against the counter.

"Her name's Cosmo, she just moved here recently.

"Oh right, I met her at the game last night. She's alright, I just thought I'd try for someone closer to my age, so then it wouldn't be too awkward for us," he said while looking between the two.

"Well, perhaps when she's a sophomore?" the seedrian persisted.

"Uh…we'll see. Who knows what will happen in a year," Shadow said, making sure his face wouldn't betray his inward embarrassment.

As he walked out a while later, he checked the time.

_6:45 pm… guess I should get going then. _Shadow thought, sighing as he threw on his jacket. Drinking down a cup of punch the kind ladies had offered him, he listened as the DJ prepared his line-up. Turning, he headed out the door, hands in his pockets as he made his way toward his truck.

Although he had intended on getting out before anyone saw, it was not to be as he had just closed the door when he looked back and sighed in defeat. The cars and limos started to arrive, meaning he wouldn't go completely unnoticed. Thinking quickly, Shadow decided he'd leave after they went inside.

The dark hedgehog sighed to himself as he had the volume of his stereo turned down, making sure to not be seen as he had his window down, the night air of October surprisingly warm and not bitter cold like it had been.

His gaze drifted over the ingoing students, the girls dressed in ball gowns of varying colors and textures and the boys clad in black tuxedos. Shadow spotted Sonic and Amy, Sally and Ken Khan, Knuckles and Julie-Su, Scourge and Fiona, Tails and Cream, and various other students he was familiar with. His gaze shifted away when he saw Mina Mongoose hanging onto Ash, sighing as he waited for his chance.

A few patrons turned toward the parking lot as the white truck revved up and headed out, following behind a few of the limos. Sonic sighed as he watched his friend leave.

Shadow watched in his rearview mirror as the lights of the school got smaller, sighing again as he turned on his stereo.

Get ahold of yourself, maybe you're better off alone this year…

His thoughts drifted elsewhere, the lyrics of "All of Me" fitting his mood to a T.

10:45 pm

A few hours had passed since the class loner had taken off toward home, and the dance was in full swing. Dancing was the main thing on everyone's minds, those that didn't have dates were either talking on the sidelines or at the punch table.

"This homecoming wasn't too bad," Knuckles said, his arm around Julie-Su.

"You got that right Rad Red," Sonic said, bumping fists with his football buddy.

Amy had her arm linked with Sonic, and though he smiled in response to her look, he had reminded her over, and over, and OVER, that they were there strictly as friends. Nothing more than that. The last thing he wanted, was drama; he'd dealt with that enough last year when he and Sally had that public blow up. It was only until mid-August that he'd gotten her to talk to him; but even then the news that he never saw coming, that she was together with Ken Khan? That basketball star from a neighboring school and a guy who had a short temper to say the least. It was even harder to hear he'd had a crush on Sally for years, little uppity chimp that waited for just the right moment…

Sonic was shaken from his thoughts at his friend's staring, others having come over to chat. He glanced from Amy, down to the cup of punch that had been half-gone. Now his hand was sticky from the contents that he had unknowningly squeezed out. He sighed, his left hand rubbing his brow.

"Sorry guys, wasn't paying attention. I'll be right back, Tails can you get that buddy? Thanks," Sonic said as he turned and headed toward the bathroom after the fox nodded to his response.

Nearby, Sally had not been unaware of what happened, watching in concern as Sonic crushed his cup and then had to be snapped out of it. Could he possibly still be upset over her new relationship. Though she started for him, she was stopped by Ken.

"Sally, you have to let him go. He made a choice, remember? He'll get over it, just give him time," he said to her confidently.

"I guess you're right…" she said quietly, her eyes lingering on Sonic's back a few more seconds before following Ken to the other side of the dance floor.

Sonic finished washing his hands, his hands propping him up on the counter as he stared into the mirror. He'd been so sure, so certain going into the year that he could handle not being with Sally. How wrong he'd been.

He shook his head, looking sadly down into the sink as he thought about how stupid he'd been. Sure they'd been disagreeing about things for weeks beforehand, but he didn't realize at the time her father was in the hospital. If he had, he would have stayed home from vacation and been with her. Instead, they got into a shouting match in front of the whole school.

Which ended with Sally slapping him, shouting how incentive he was, and leaving him on the spot. Though they both had apologized thoroughly and a thousand times since, they both agreed to take a break and see other people. But inside, Sonic felt like his guts were being torn apart at the sight of her being with someone else.

A voice coming from the vent overhead caught his attention.

"…please…just stop…"

"…don't see what you're problem is…"

"…not ready. Please try to understand…"

"…been going out for years, how can you not be ready?"

"…just not, alright? Let's just go back to the dance."

By now, Sonic had made his way out and to girl's bathroom door. He listened for anymore voices, both sounding familiar. He strained to hear more as he quietly opened the door a crack.

"Mina, just stay here a few more minutes."

Sonic knew he was dealing with Ash and Mina now, his temper growing short as he heard the ruffling of clothing, most likely Mina's lavender dress.

"Ash I said no!"

A resounding slap was heard as the stall door banged open, that being all he could take. He whirled around the corner, fists balled tight as he looked to see Mina, her dress and hair askew. Her hand was holding her cheek while Ash stood over her.

"I'm tired of you pulling crap on me. Always what you want me to do, well I want-oh well look who's here! If it isn't the girlfriend-stealing bastard himself!" Ash said in anger.

He didn't have time to say much else, as Ash was soon being shoved against the wall. He shoved back against Sonic before they soon crashed out of the bathroom, landing in a heap in front of Knuckles, Tails, and Scourge.

"Whoa whoa whoa! What the hell's going on!" they shouted as they tore the scuffling teens away from one another. Julie-Su, Amy, and Fiona soon came up, wondering what was going on.

"You son of a…what did you do to Mina!" Sonic said, struggling against Scourge's and Tails' grip.

"Whatever I want to do! She's my girlfriend, you stay the HELL away from her!" Ash shouted, loud enough for some of the teens nearby to hear. Worse for him, Mina heard as she had by now exited the bathroom.

Ash heard the bathroom door, turning his head to see Mina with tears coming down her face.

"Wait…I didn't mean-" Ash was cutoff as Mina turned and ran out the door. Knuckles shoved him against the wall, the others shaking their heads. "Yeah you did, you perv," Fiona said in disgust.

Julie-Su and Amy walked up and both slapped Ash, pinning him to the wall. "You ever go near her again, we'll both personally make sure you understand what a big mistake you made hurting her was," the echidna growled into his face, kneeing him in the crotch before they all walked away, leaving the mongoose groaning in pain.

"Seriously, that's messed up," Scourge said as he guided Sonic away from the scene, Tails doing his best to ease Sonic's anger. "It's okay Sonic, you made sure to stop it from going any further."

"Yeah, but Mina ran off. We better go find her," Sonic said as he headed out the door, followed by Knuckles and Tails.

"Fiona, you take Julie and Amy and check around the school. I'll take the car and check the streets. The neighborhood around here isn't too friendly…" Scourge said as his eyes narrowed, pulling out his keys.

"You be careful buddy," the fox said as she pulled said echidna and hedgehog and went to tell the others. The green hedgehog smirked in response, chuckling inwardly. "When aren't I?"

25 minutes had passed since the outburst and the dance had wrapped up. Ken and Uncle Chuck were keeping an eye on Ash, making sure he didn't go anywhere. Already he was threatened with expulsion after being found out in the bathroom. Sally was on the phone with Sonic while Bunnie and Antoine sat at a nearby table, listening as best they could.

"…are you sure you've looked everywhere?…This isn't good Sonic, what do we tell her mother?…Don't worry about him, your uncle is taking care of that…If you feel that your parents would be up to that, then I'll let them know…Alright, well if it gets any later, then you should probably call it a night…"

Sonic on the other line wasn't happy at hearing this.

"No way Sal, you know as well as I do that being out on the streets at this hour is the worst thing for someone our age, especially if you're a girl…You know what I meant by that…I know, I'm worried too…"

The blue hedgehog sighed as he thought for a second then turned back to his conversation.

"Sally, there is one other person that needs to know…"

The black hedgehog was sitting comfortably at his place, arms behind his head as he sat watching a movie that was being shown on tv. His thoughts drifted elsewhere, glancing up at the clock. 12:15 am, everyone's probably at the after-dance party by now…he thought to himself. He was shaken from any further thoughts as his phone started going off.

"Who would be calling me at this hour?" he said as he glanced at the ID. It read Restricted. He sighed as someone probably gave out his number as a practical joke, deciding to take the call.

"Whoever this is, if it was Sonic that gave you my number, just know that he's a dead man on Monday," he said in a bored tone, eyes focused on the movie.

"Shadow, this isn't a joke," the chipmunk spoke.

The dark hedgehog raised an eyebrow at this. "Sally? Sally Acorn? Why are you calling me?"

"We need your help, Mina's missing and we-"

He shot up into a sitting position, hunched over with his feet already going into his shoes.

"What did you say? Mina's what?"

"Mina's missing, Ash tried to rape her in the bathroom and-"

"HE DID WHAT! I'll kill that bastard!"

"Sonic already beat you to it. Look, she went missing over an hour and a half ago and nobody can find her. Please Shadow, we don't know where she is and its got everybody worried."

Shadow kept his cool as he listened to the fear that was evident in her voice. He nodded to himself as he spoke in a firm voice.

"Sally, don't worry. I'll find her, just stay there at the school. I'll keep you posted and please do the same."

"Will do.…" Sally said as Shadow cut the line, pocketing his phone before rushing out the door. He locked it behind him, jumping onto the Harley parked in his driveway. Firing up the engine he revved up the engine and roared out onto the street, taking off into the night.

_Hang on Mina, please. Just please be alright…_ Shadow thought to himself.

He was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't see the oncoming car coming his way to his left as he crossed the intersection. All that was heard was the screeching of tires and the honking of a horn, time seeming to slow as the car drew closer and closer…

Next time:

The search intensifies, more and more being brought in.

Sonic: She's out here somewhere, I'm not going to stop looking for her.

Sally: Sonic, please relax. Someone will find her…

And Mina finds herself in more trouble than she bargained for.

?: Don't worry cutie, I'll take good care of you.

Mina: Please…don't…

And before the night's out, someone may not come out of it in one piece.

Sonic: Shadow! This isn't the way! You've got to stop!

The update took longer than expected, but I hope you enjoy it. Until next time!


End file.
